Friends, I don't know how long it's been since you left Indonesia. I want to invite all of you to reminisce a little. For some reason, in the past few days, a song has been playing in my mind. More precisely, a part of that song. It's not a spiritual song, but a song by the group Dewa titled 'Pupus'. The lyrics that kept echoing in my ears are: 'I love you more than you know, though you'll never know.' This is indeed a pop love song, and I'm sure the songwriter isn't even a Christian, but I get the impression that the song actually also tells of Jesus' relationship with us. Do you know that Jesus loves us so much? Of course, we've known that since Sunday School. 'Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so,' that's the song we've sung since way back when.
However, the pop song I mentioned earlier made me wonder if I truly know that Jesus loves me? After much thought and reflection, I finally came to the conclusion that, truthfully, I cannot comprehend the immensity of the love He has for me. What I think I know about His love for me, I actually don't know. The question is this: if I don't know, will that diminish His love for me? Does He only love me as much as I know about His love?
Psalm 103:11 says, 'For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.' Who knows how high the heavens are above the earth? Today, we have science that shows the sky doesn't truly have a physical end. Thus, His love for us is truly boundless. He even gave His own life for us! Isn't that something super amazing? And this boundless love He gives to those who fear Him, not to those who merely know.
At this point, I am sure you all understand that the 'fear' mentioned here is not like being afraid to cross a river on a rope or like a woman being scared because there's a gecko in the corner of the room. The fear meant here is to honor Him. Yes, even if we don't know, let alone understand, the greatness of His love, or His greatness and majesty in general. We honor Him with our faith and trust in Him. 100%! What if our faith in Him brings us into trouble and persecution? That has happened since the beginning. Luke records it in Acts 5:40-41, 'And when they had called the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.' They not only endured persecution but actually rejoiced in it!
Our faith in Him might bring us into trouble, but that is only on this earth and is temporary. In the end, even if we will never fully know, let us place our faith on this strong and eternal foundation: Jesus loves you, my friend, more than you know.